Record 333 pounds of cocaine with $10M street value seized at Port of Baltimore

Drugs with street value of about $10M found in shipping container

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Updated: 7:31 AM EDT Jun 26, 2019

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A STANDARD SHIPPING CONTAINER THAT YOU WOULD SEE AT ANY SEAPOR COUNTRY. VANESS IT WAS PACKED WITH BEACH SHARES, BUT AGENTS FOUND SOMETHING ELSE INSIDE THE CONTAINER. >> THE GOODS WERE PACKAGED PROPERLY, NICE AND NEAT. WHEN YOU OPEN THE DOORS, FOUR LARGE DOUBLE BAGS FULL OF BRICKS OF COCAINE. VANESS THEY SAY IT WAS HEADED TO A MARYLAND ADDRESS AIR IT IS NOT CLEAR F THE FINAL DESTINATION WAS IN BALTIMORE. VANESS CBP WAS ON ALE AFTER 7.5 TONS OF COCAINE SEIZED DAYS EARLIER. IT IS THE LARGEST SEIZURE IN THE HISTORY OF ASIAN WITH A STREET VALUE OF ABOUT $1.1 BILLION. THE CONTENTS OF THE CONTAINER THAT ARRIVED IN BALTIMORE RAISED RED FLAGS. >> THIS CONTAINER SAT IN THE PORT OF PANAMA FOR OVER ONE WEEK. A BIG REASON FOR A HIGH NARCOTICS TARGET VALUE, AS WELL AS GOODS MADE CHINA. THAT TARGETING BASED OFF OF THOSE REASONS, AS WELL AS INTELLIGENCE, WE PULLED IT. VANESSA: NO ARRESTS HAVE BEEN MADE. HOMELAND SECURITY SPECIAL AGENTS CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE. THEY ARE SMART, CLEVER. WE HAVE TO WORK SMARTER AND MORE EFFICIENTLY TO CATCH THESE GOODS. IT TAKES A TEA EFFORT CANNOT TRULY A TEAM EFFORT, TO CATCH THESE. VANESS CBP SAYS THERE HAS BEEN AN UPTICK IN COCAINE SEIZURES.

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Record 333 pounds of cocaine with $10M street value seized at Port of Baltimore

Federal and local authorities seized 333 pounds of cocaine from inside a shipping container at the Port of Baltimore. The street value is estimated at about $10 million. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents found the cocaine inside a shipping container with beach chairs."It was a standard shipping container. Standard 40-foot shipping container that you would see at any sea port of entry," said Patricia Scull, assistant port director of tactical operations. It was packed with beach chairs, but CBP agents in the port of Baltimore found something else inside the container, last Tuesday."The goods were packaged properly in containers nice and neat on palettes, just like any container would be, but at the back of the container when you just open the doors, four large duffel bags full of bricks of cocaine," Scull said. The 333 pounds of cocaine, officials say it was headed to a Maryland address. It's not clear if the destination was in Baltimore."That is a continuing investigation right now," Scull said. The CBP was on alert after 17.5 tons of cocaine was seized in Philadelphia two days earlier. It is the largest cocaine seizure in the history of the agency, with a street value of about $1.1 billion.The route and contents of the container that arrived in Baltimore raised red flags."This container, in particular, sat in the Port of Panama for over a week, big reason for a high narcotics target value for us as well as the goods made in China for intellectual property rights violations -- that targeting based off of those two reasons as well as intelligence, we pulled it in," Scull said.So far, no arrests have been made. Homeland Security investigations special agents continue to investigate."These drug trafficking organizations they're smart, they're clever, and we have to work harder, smarter, and more efficiently to catch these goods when they come into the United States and it takes a team effort, truly a team effort, to catch these," Scull said. The CBP said there has been an uptick in cocaine seizures.The investigation continues.

BALTIMORE —

Federal and local authorities seized 333 pounds of cocaine from inside a shipping container at the Port of Baltimore.

The street value is estimated at about $10 million. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents found the cocaine inside a shipping container with beach chairs.

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"It was a standard shipping container. Standard 40-foot shipping container that you would see at any sea port of entry," said Patricia Scull, assistant port director of tactical operations.

It was packed with beach chairs, but CBP agents in the port of Baltimore found something else inside the container, last Tuesday.

"The goods were packaged properly in containers nice and neat on palettes, just like any container would be, but at the back of the container when you just open the doors, four large duffel bags full of bricks of cocaine," Scull said.

The 333 pounds of cocaine, officials say it was headed to a Maryland address. It's not clear if the destination was in Baltimore.

"That is a continuing investigation right now," Scull said.

The CBP was on alert after 17.5 tons of cocaine was seized in Philadelphia two days earlier. It is the largest cocaine seizure in the history of the agency, with a street value of about $1.1 billion.

The route and contents of the container that arrived in Baltimore raised red flags.

"This container, in particular, sat in the Port of Panama for over a week, big reason for a high narcotics target value for us as well as the goods made in China for intellectual property rights violations -- that targeting based off of those two reasons as well as intelligence, we pulled it in," Scull said.

So far, no arrests have been made. Homeland Security investigations special agents continue to investigate.

"These drug trafficking organizations they're smart, they're clever, and we have to work harder, smarter, and more efficiently to catch these goods when they come into the United States and it takes a team effort, truly a team effort, to catch these," Scull said.